ARTICLES ABOUT OVERCROWDING BY DATE - PAGE 2

County officials recently met with Jack Kann, manager of Michigan Department of Corrections County Jail Services Section (CJSS) to review the condition of the jail and address overcrowding issues. The meeting was followed by a Jan. 30 letter from Kahn to Sheriff Jim McBride summarizing the meeting and exploring options for future the jail. Discussions focused on many issues including overcrowding, hygiene and medical concerns. Officials are particularly concerned about overcrowding and the mixing of inmates whose severity of offense varies.

To the Editor: I'm an inmate at the Otsego County Jail and concerning the many letters on this new jail proposal, listen to someone who knows first-hand about the overcrowding problem. First of all, the overcrowding situation is not a new problem. It may seem new, but it is not. It's been problem for at least three years. Right now there are seven people in my four-man cell. Two years ago when I was here, there were five or six people per four-man cell. And the year before that.

GAYLORD - Charges may be pending for three area men lodged in the Otsego County Jail for allegedly assaulting a 14-year-old Lewiston boy inside their jail cell. The alleged incident, which Sheriff Jim McBride said happened last week, is currently under investigation by his department. McBride said the boy has since been moved to another cell. The youth, who will be tried as an adult in Otsego County on an unrelated matter, reportedly told a corrections officer and his mother during a visit Thursday, that the men, ages 17, 19 and 23, had stolen his food, physically roughed him up and one of them had committed a sexual act in front of him while in the cell.

LIVINGSTON TWP. - Complaints are up and revenues are down according to Otsego County Sheriff James McBride, who addressed the Otsego County Board of Commissioners Tuesday with his 2004 year-end report. While total revenue generated by the sheriff's department in 2004 was $236,081, (down from $312,872 in 2003) traffic citations decreased from 986 issued in 2003 to 830 in 2004 dropping that portion of revenues from $31,552 to $26,560. McBride reported complaints had significantly increased, to 2,969 complaints in 2004, up from 2,243 in 2003 (see chart)

GAYLORD - With an inmate population of 40 on Friday, it is now expected that for the second time this year Otsego County Jail supervisor Lt. Brian Webber will declare a state of emergency on Monday for overcrowding at the jail. The county jail has a capacity of 34 beds and in accordance with the procedures outlined in the Jail Overcrowding Act, after seven straight days of exceeding that capacity Webber is required to notify, in writing, Chief District Judge Patricia A. Morse and Otsego County Prosecutor Kevin Hesselink of the overcrowding situation.

LIVINGSTON TWP. - At the rate things are going, the Otsego County Prosecutor's office is on pace to almost double its felony offense caseload, from 298 in 2000 to an estimated 550 for this year. Although the overall population in the county has not doubled in the past four years, prosecutor Kevin Hesselink said local population growth has played a factor in the steady increase in the number of individual felony cases his office is working on. "I think there is just more of everything in the county, including felony arrests," he said.

GAYLORD - After a 25-year career in law enforcement, 18 of which were as an officer with the Michigan State Police (MSP), Abe Cruz, who retired last year from the MSP Gaylord post, has filed to run for the office of Otsego County Sheriff. He is challenging incumbent Sheriff James McBride, who declared last month he will seek re-election. "I've always had a passion for this profession and I'm ready to get back into it," said Cruz, who will run as a Republican. "I believe I will bring a positive and strong leadership role to the job of sheriff.

To the Editor: I would like to bring to your attention an issue before we have a fatal disaster. As you are probably aware there has been another needless accident which, occurred on Tuesday, March 3 at the intersection of M-32 and Maple Avenue. This incident needlessly caused injuries and power outages along with rerouting traffic for hours. I plan to petition, along with support of the community, a proposal to put an end to our traffic congestion. We can implement traffic signals, alter entrances and exits or possibly alternate the start and end times of school and busing hours.

GAYLORD - Otsego County Jail supervisor Brian Webber has had his hands full trying to alleviate a jail overcrowding situation at the county jail. The only problem is, as soon as he finds alternatives to jail for some of the prisoners, he receives several new ones who take their place. Webber met with Judge Patricia Morse last week, providing recommendations to bring the jail count down to 30 prisoners as required by law, for the 34-bed jail. As of Tuesday morning, Webber reported 35 prisoners were still behind bars.

Staff Writer LIVINGSTON TWP. - In an effort to address the growing problem of overcrowding at the Otsego County Jail, the concept of offering transitional housing to provide intensive services to help curb recidivism of prisoners involved in the local corrections system is currently being discussed by a local advisory committee. The group met last week with Ken Homa, director of Housing Services, at Goodwill Industries of Northern Michigan in Traverse City, which currently operates transitional housing offender programs in Traverse City and Cheboygan.